


Closure

by HiddenLycan



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-01-23 01:10:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18539218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenLycan/pseuds/HiddenLycan
Summary: “So remember me.Write my name on a stone.But don't let me hold you back from it all.”–Anadel’s Remember Me [Season 2, Ep 3 Credits Song]AJ, Violet, and Clementine each visit the graveyard to speak with the shadows of their past one last time.





	1. AJ - Night

**Author's Note:**

> Attempted to write some super belated closure for my favorite family and me. Hmmm.
> 
> Disclaimer: All definitions belong to Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

**night** **noun  
** \ˈnīt\  
1 : the time from dusk to dawn when no sunlight is visible

\-----

“ _You trusted AJ to make the hard calls.”_

_\-----_

AJ set the paper on the mound, securing the corners with hefty stones. Within the sheet lied an illustration of a boy and two girls surrounded by several men and women donning bizarre hats, the phrase “Tenn’s happe place” scrawled sloppily underneath them.

One of the girls had music notes around her. The other held a paintbrush.

The boy himself held a pencil and notebook.

“Hi, Tenn,” AJ greeted. “I made you a new drawing. It’s still not as good as yours, but Clem and Violet said I’m getting better.”

He sat opposite the grave, crossings his legs into a pretzel.

“This time, I put some firefighters and policemen. So that wherever you are, you’re defa… defa… you’re safe. They’ll protect you. And your sisters, too.”

Done with the explanation of his work, AJ idled, uncertain of what else to say, if there was anything else he needed to say to an empty grave.

He would know. He buried the walker behind the shack.

“Oh. There you are, AJ.” The boy peeked up to find Violet walking over from the admin building. “I was looking for you. Clem misses her sleeping buddy.”

She settled down beside him, noticing the new addition to the cemetery.

“You brought another drawing… Tenn’s always loved heroes. He’ll like it.”

“Even if I couldn’t be his?”

He could see Violet bite her lip, her eyes clouding into a haze.

“…That’s the first rule of living in groups, AJ. Learning that you can’t save everyone. To be my hero, you had to kill Tenn.”

Her eyes looked lost now. Captured in an alternate timeline, a different route of the choices made.

“Sometimes I wonder if I could’ve saved him,” she murmured. “That if I tried hard enough that day, maybe I could’ve thrown him over.”

“But then you’d be dead. The walkers. They’d get you.”

“If it meant that he could live, it’d be worth _–_ ”

“NO!” AJ retaliated, the cry startling the creatures nearby, one particularly irritated bird squawking its displeasure. “I… No! I don’t want that! You can’t die, Violet.”

The boy desperately swung his arms around her, ensnaring Violet into a hug. Ensuring that she was still there with him. Breathing and alive.

“I… I shot Tenn because I didn’t want Tenn to hurt anyone else I love… and because… Because I don’t need Tenn.”

AJ forced his eyes shut, slashing out Tenn’s face from his memory, the face Tenn made before his eyes blew out like a candle.

Asking _Why?_

“But Clementine needs you, Violet! She needs you. And I need Clem. And I know that makes me se-se-sel _–_ ”

“Selfish.”

“Yeah, selfish. But I don’t care! Cause if Clem needs you, then I need you, too!… Please. Please don’t die, Violet,” he wailed, his hands tightening around Violet’s vest. “You can’t. I won’t let you.”

No. Not Violet. Never Violet. Clementine loved her and Violet made Clementine happy. It might not be the same kind of happy that AJ made Clementine, but he knew enough that Clementine couldn’t lose her.

He didn’t want to know what would happen if she did.

“… Clementine wasn’t lying when she said she was the luckiest girl.” He heard Violet whisper. “You care so much about her.”

AJ felt an arm snake around his waist, Violet’s head barely touching the tip of his hair.

“I’m sorry, buddy. I didn’t mean to upset you. Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

At her assertion, AJ loosened his grip, unraveling the tension wracking his tiny body. He turned his head to face the wooden cross marking Tennessee’s place.

“Violet, why do people talk to graves? Willy and Ruby do it all the time and I want to, too, but Tenn isn’t even there!” He pouted. “How can I talk to him when he’s not even there?”

Violet didn’t respond for the next few beats, the chatter of the crickets suffusing the air instead.

“… Maybe you can talk to him another way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let me show you.”

She rose from the grass, motioning for AJ to follow suit. The two headed towards the lookout station, ascending the ladder to the platform above. Enshrouding themselves in the night sky speckled with millions and millions of golden droplets.

“My grandma used to say that when we die, when we really die, our souls leave the earth and go to the stars,” Violet told him at the top. “So if Tenn is anywhere, he’s gotta be here.”

AJ stepped forward to the edge of the platform, taking in the vast expanse of unending darkness.

“Does that mean Mitch is here, too? And James? And Marlon and Brody? And… and Abel?”

A shudder rippled through the boy at the final name, his trauma of the man ever present even after Clementine killed him.

But Tenn had said that all people went to the same place to become a person again. And that included the bad people, too.

“Yeah, they’re all here,” Violet replied softly. “Even Minnie.”

“Where, though? The sky's so big. How do I find him?”

“You don’t. He’ll find you. He’s out there, listening for sure.”

AJ cocked his head at the statement.

“So I just talk?… And he’ll talk back?”

“Yep.”

“Huh. Okay. I’ll try.”

It was better than talking to the grave anyway. After all, he’s never traveled to the stars, never seen what’s out there. Who’s out there.

“I’ll leave you to it then. Just don’t take too long or Clem will be sad.”

“That’s okay. You can be her sleeping buddy.”

Violet arched an eyebrow.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. It's gonna take a while.”

So many thoughts about Tenn had been trapped in his head, constrained like a soda can far past its expiration date. Ready to burst every moment he recalled the other boy frozen on the bridge.

He needed more time.

“… Okay, I’ll let her know. Still though, don’t stay out too long.”

“I won’t.”

AJ watched her descend the ladder, waving to her when she reached the bottom. Once Violet was safely behind dorm doors, he returned to his earlier position, his mind having sorted out the hodgepodge that were his feelings.

“I’m sorry, Tenn,” he started. “I’m sorry I shot you, but I needed to save Violet and you… You were being stupid again! You knew your sister wasn’t there and you wouldn’t leave!”

He spat out the words, anger balling his fists, frustration marring his features.

Why, why, why did Tenn have to be such a dummy. All he had to do back then was jump. Why. Didn’t. He. Jump.

“I couldn’t let you take Violet. Clem needs Violet and I need Violet so I couldn’t let you take her… You get that, right?”

He had to save her, save Violet. He had to. After James, he wasn’t going to let anyone or anything take away the people he loved.

He’ll kill them first.

“You’re probably really mad and really sad and you’re probably gonna yell at me and stick out your tongue when I get there, but right now, I can’t. I need to be the firefighter you told me I was. Brave and… and strong. So that I can protect the people you care about. Violet. Louis. Willy.”

Clementine. Aasim. Ruby. Omar. Rosie.

Everyone.

“So wait for me, okay? Cause I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna keep everyone safe. At least while the walkers are around.”

The train of his rant nearing its stop, AJ’s bravado evaporated, his shoulders slumping at the silent lights glimmering overhead.

“And um… when I get there, maybe we could be friends again? And draw? And play cards? And, and…”

The boy's face fell, crushed with the absence left by his decisions.

“I miss you, Tenn.”

At that instant, a comet swooped down, dashing the black canvas with a stroke of stardust. AJ trailed the ghost white streak with his eyes, wondering what it meant.

Wondering if it, possibly, was a sign.

_\-----_

“ _Tenn will remember that.”_


	2. Violet - Twilight

**twilight** **noun, often attributive  
** \ˈtwī-ˌlīt\  
1   : the light from the sky between full night and sunrise or between sunset and full night produced by diffusion of sunlight through the atmosphere and its dust

2 a : an intermediate state that is not clearly defined  
   b : a period of decline

\-----

“ _The thing is, seeing Minnie… I feel like it should’ve scared me. But it didn’t. The person we ran into the woods, that wasn’t Minnie, not really. The way she sounded, and acted… the way she talked about Sophie, and Lilly… I’m… I’m confused, I guess.”_

“ _We can still save Minnie. If we brought her back we could–”_

“ _You saw how she reacted when Lilly showed up. Those are her people now. And we are not. Minnie – the real Minnie – she’s gone. She’s been gone this whole time, and I… have to stop mourning her.”_

\-----

“You’re burning it.”

Violet glanced up to see Clementine hobbling towards her, left hand occupied with a cane to support the peg leg. Her eyes drew down once more to view the dancing fire in front of the grave, the flames nipping at an old book titled ‘Memories.’

“Yeah. Figured she needed it the most out of all of us. To remind her of who she was. Who she used to be…” She crossed her arms, shielding herself from the wandering sparks. “And I can’t look at it anymore. It hurts too much.”

The memories had become poisoned, corroded with the knowledge of Minerva’s demise, flashes of her final moments mangling the fond remembrances.

“ _What happened to your boot?”_

“ _It got caught in some brush on the way back.”_

“… _Come to my room later. I’ll fix it for you.”_

“ _Really?”_

“ _Of course. Wouldn’t want my girlfriend getting caught in an accident now, would I?”_

“ **What happened then, Minerva?”**

“ **I killed her.”**

“Do you miss her?” Clementine asked, the edges of her voice tinged with hesitance.

Violet pursed her lips, deliberating what her answer should be. She reached out for Clementine’s free hand, their fingers automatically intertwining.

“No. I spent a whole fucking year mourning her, I don't need to mourn her anymore… But… when I think about Minnie? My head gets fucked up.”

Minnie, her first friend and her first love. Motivated by optimism and elevating everybody’s spirits.

Or Minerva, the mindless soldier blinded by the Delta. Fixated on self-preservation and serving the cause.

Minerva, the girl so strangled by her own anger and fear that she cleaved Clementine’s leg open and dragged Tennessee to his death.

Violet leaned her head against Clementine’s shoulder.

“It’s kinda like… kinda like those times when the TV gets all staticky and keeps changing the channel over and over? That’s what my head feels like when it comes to her. Stuck between the Minnie I knew and the stranger we met on the boat.”

Opposite ends of the spectrum battling each other in an eternal conflict to decide which one of them was real, which one would Violet remember in the years to come. The best friend or the monster.

Violet closed her eyes, focusing on Clementine beside her to drive the clashing images away. Honing in on the rhythm of Clementine's breathing and the roughness of her hand.

Clementine, the girl who left but never failed to return. Time after time after time. Her one constant in this fickle world determined to destroy them.

“What channel is it on now?”

“… You.”

She heard Clementine suck in a breath.

“That’s good. The channel should always be on me.”

“Shut up.”

“Will do.”

Violet grinned at the comment, shifting her head to nestle it further into Clementine.

“I love you, you idiot.”

“I know. I love you, too.”

Her eyebrows furrowed at the simple response, Minerva’s presence disturbing her usual composure.

“No, you don’t,” Violet retorted, her hand clutching tighter around Clementine’s. “Like, I really fucking love you, Clementine. More then I ever loved Minnie. More than I ever loved anyone. My parents. My grandma. God, I love you so much, Clem. So much that it frightens the goddamn shit outta me. And I can’t… I need you to know that.”

Clementine, who could have left them behind to save herself and AJ. Abandoned them to become sacrificial pawns in Lily’s game of chess, alive only on the outside.

But she didn’t. When everyone else Violet knew vanished, Clementine came back and stayed.

For her.

“… And I do. You tell me every single day, Vi. Even if you don’t say it aloud,” Clementine avowed, lifting Violet’s hand to kiss the back of it, her lips lingering a second longer than necessary.

Violet flushed, keeping her face hidden within Clementine’s shoulder.

Minnie had never liked subtle admissions or physical sentiments, instead preferring grand gestures or bombastic declarations. A bellow off the clock tower. A stage dedicated to her name.

A carving into a wall.

“ _You carved a heart? That’s so cheesy.”_

“ _Is it? Sorry. I can–”_

“ _No no, I love it, Vi! But it’s missing a little something. Some personal touch or fancy flair or…”_

“ _What do you…”_

“ _There. An arrow. Because you shot an arrow through my heart that day.”_

“ **You’re the fucking problem here! I won’t let you get them all killed!”**

“ **Minerva!”**

“ **I can’t let her leave!”**

“ **Shit.”**

The scrapbook had been reduced to a motley pile of ashes now, the fire dwindling, bereaved of its source of sustenance.

“She’s gone,” Violet confirmed in a low voice, almost unable to grasp the reality. “After everything we’ve been through, she’s really gone.”

Not a walker. Not a raider. Minnie – Minerva – was dead.

The everlasting night had finally come to an end.

“Yeah, and hopefully to a better place where there are no child-snatchers to brainwash you,” Clementine jested, squeezing Violet’s hand.

“Mm, yeah… Maybe.”

Violet straightened herself, observing the last of the embers petering out.

The remainder of her memories put to rest.

“ _Hey, you’re new here. What’s your name?”_

“ _Violet.”_

“ _Vio-let. Hm. Can I call you Vi?”_

“ _Huh? … Um. Sure?”_

“ _Really? Cool. Well, Vi, I’m Minerva, but you can call me Minnie. Nice to meet you, Vi.”_

“ **I’m taking Tenn home. I’m going h–”**

Violet locked down her senses, drowning out the cacophony of screams echoing in her head.

The fire had perished. The book. Disintegrated. Scattered dust swept by the winds.

Clementine’s hand remained interlaced with hers, the grip firm and steady.

She directed her gaze to the grave, tracing the name written into it. Gathering the fragments of courage she needed to say her farewells and package the snapshots of yesterday into a neat box, ready to be shelved in the past where it belonged.

No longer obstructing the present.

“Goodbye… Minerva.”

\-----

“ _While we were looking for you guys, and I… I thought you might be… gone for good… ugh, shit. I was trying to figure out what I’d do if you were gone, and I realized how goddamn stupid I was. About Minnie. For a whole fucking year. I was so wrapped up in losing her and Sophie, I pushed away everyone who tried to care about me. Marlon, Brody, Louis. Even you and AJ. I tried my damnedest not to care about either of you. And I still couldn’t tell you why.”_

“ _I know where you’re coming from. After losing so many people, sometimes it’s easier to keep everyone at arm’s length.”_

“ _And then you wonder why you fight so hard to stay alive. I don’t wonder anymore.”_


	3. Clementine - Dawn

**dawn** **noun  
** \ˈdȯn,ˈdän\  
1 : the first appearance of light in the morning followed by sunrise  
2 : BEGINNING

\-----

“ _I wish I had something more to give you._  
_You’ve been feeling bad this time of year._  
_If I could, I would drive out to see you.  
__Things are finally looking up for me this time.”_

\-----

CHOK!

The sledgehammer crashed into the wood, staking its mark into the earth.

CHOK!

A second slam to lock the position. Forbid any room for leeway and movement.

CHOK!

“There. It’s finished.”

Casting the hammer to the side, Clementine stepped back to assess her handiwork, the newly-made cross standing tall and proud. Satisfied with the outcome, she plopped onto the grass, Rosie whining the moment she hit the ground. The dog pawed at the wooden peg attached to her knee.

“Rosie, my leg isn’t a chew toy.”

The whining increased in volume, Rosie refusing to squander the opportunity presented to her.

Clementine sighed.

“All right, all right. You win. Let me get if off,” she groaned, detaching the belts affixing the peg. Once the buckles were loose, Clementine flung the implement as far as she could, Rosie bolting after it in a frenzy. Leaving Clem alone with the specters of the past.

“Oh. Before I forget. Here.”

She set a yellow can of beer next to the wood.

“I know it isn’t bourbon, but it is alcohol. Not the easiest thing to find around here.”

Clementine shrugged, raising her own mug filled with tea cooled from the morning air.

“Well, cheers,” she toasted, downing the liquid in one shot.

The grave across from her kept silent, the flowers swaying gently in the breeze. Clementine placed the mug beside her.

“Wow. It’s strange. Seeing you like this. I’m so used to you being in my head or in my dreams that I didn’t think I'd ever get the chance to talk to you like this again.”

Where she could simply sit here and spout out her musings to him. No need for her mind to race sixty miles per second, calculating when they were going to get their next meal, where they were going to hide for the night. What the nearest escape route was.

“I’m sorry it took so long, but I think you’ll like it here, even if it is a bit far from Georgia. It’s really nice. Cozy and isolated… And during the springtime? The view is absolutely breathtaking.”

She remembered the trees earlier that year, the buds blooming into an overwhelming explosion of colors and scents, transforming the woods into one of those landscape paintings her parents had shown her when she was a child. AJ’s exuberance had been highly contagious then, the boy darting to and fro along the trail to the shack, bombarding Clementine with countless questions about all the sights and sounds surrounding him. About the plants, the insects, the deer and the frogs. About the tiny green birds with super flappy wings and long pointy beaks, zipping along from cluster to cluster.

“I like it here. It’s stable. There’s food, water, beds. Little to no enemies. Friends who I can depend on to have my back, remind me what it’s like to be a kid and not a survivor.”

The edges of her lips curled up at the thought of them. Aasim proposing his latest plan. Louis composing his jokes. Willy devising his traps.

Precious companions she’ll cherish to the end of her days.

“And… I have a family here, too. AJ, my goofball? The cutest goofball ever. I’m so lucky to have him.”

Alvin Junior, her beloved boy. Forever the light of her life in this dismal universe.

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I could do it. Keep him alive. Raise him to be a good person. There were so many times where I doubted myself, thinking that maybe it would've been better if I left him somewhere else, with other people who'd do a better job.”

The lady at the ranch came to mind. The one she shot in cold blood, relentlessly molding Clementine’s dreams into nightmares.

Yet… yet, when she had asked AJ that day, the first day she had been able to walk, on whether or not she had done a good job, the boy had responded with the utmost incredulity, his eyes teeming with disbelief.

“ _Of course you did! What are you… are you crazy?”_

She blinked at the wetness creeping in her eyes.

“It somehow worked out, though. He’s an amazing boy, AJ. Strong and tough and so, so brave. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t even be here. AJ… He saved me. All of me. Without him, I don’t know what I would've done, who I would've become… That’s how much I need him.”

Clementine recalled the path she took when AJ was lost. Cold. Miserable. Her sole focus being survival and nothing else.

Had she continued down that path… Perhaps she would have become like Minerva, hardened into a shell of her former self. No anchor to hold down the core of what makes her Clementine.

She shivered at the thought, crumpling and tossing it aside. Those days were over.

“And Violet, my… my girlfriend. Ha, can you imagine? After being on the run for so long, I never expected to find other people like me let alone find somebody to love… But I did. I found her.”

Perched high up on a wall, enigmatic and alluring, both of their interests piqued at the other’s presence.

“And she’s wonderful. Soft. Sweet. Understanding. Brilliant. Fiercely protective to a fault… Beautiful…”

The confession slowly faded into a whisper, Clementine enraptured with visions of the girl she fell in love with.

Of Violet, who’s always stood by Clementine and AJ’s side, believing in Clementine even when she had no reason to. Who drew her cleaver against Marlon. Shot an arrow through Lilly. Sought them out in a noxious forest, corrupted with both the undead and the unknown.

Violet, who fashioned a pin for Clementine’s jacket. Requested her for a dance. Tended to her wounds after the arduous trial fighting for their freedom.

Told Clementine she couldn’t imagine a life without her underneath the serene light of the stars.

“I… I love her. Really, I do. With all my heart… And I’m sure you would’ve, too.”

He would've thought Vi was perfect.

Unable to stop her tears now, Clementine let them flow, cascading down her face and dousing her jeans, the minuscule specks evolving into sizable stains as the minutes passed. Somewhere, smothered within her blurry vision, she spotted Rosie striding towards her, jaws occupied with the missing peg leg. The dog dumped the slobbered wood at Clementine’s foot, whimpering as she lapped away the salty streams skimming down her master’s cheeks.

Clementine burrowed her face into Rosie’s pelt, entangling her arms around the pet.

“Of course, how could I forget you, Rosie? Bestest girl in the world. Number one in mauling walkers.”

Rosie barked in response.

“Violet, she’s here!” Another voice cried out in the distance. One she would recognize anywhere. “Clem! Omar says tha– W-Wha?! Why are you crying?!”

Clementine sniffled, dismissing the tears with the palms of her hands.

“It’s… It’s nothing. What did Omar say?”

“That he figured out how to make pancakes. Violet! Clementine’s crying!”

Having caught up to the panicked boy, Violet examined the haphazard scene encircling them. Mislaid tools and empty mug. Three letters etched into a freshly-cut plank.

“So this is why you weren’t in bed.”

“Yeah, once you put the idea in my head, I couldn’t get it out.”

“Well, you should’ve waited till I woke up,” Violet chided. “What if you got hurt?”

“I’m disabled, Vi. Not helpless.”

“And I’m not saying you are, but you’re not exactly a morning person, you know?”

Clementine winced at the jab, her morning habits consistently making her an easy target.

“Violet, can we go eat pancakes now?” AJ questioned, tugging at Violet’s vest.

She shared a glance with Violet, pleading for some more time.

“Hold on, AJ. Let’s go see if the other kids want pancakes first.”

Violet dove in to plant a kiss on Clementine’s cheek, her breath tickling against Clem’s ear.

“You’ve got five minutes.”

“Thanks.”

Violet nodded once more before capturing AJ’s hand, their footsteps gradually blending into the background until the only sounds lingering were those of the cicadas and the creaking tire swing.

“… So you see, the little girl you found all those years ago? Your sweet pea? She grew up. Grew up into the remarkable woman you knew she was going to be and she found herself a family and friends and a place to stay. A place that’s safe… She’s got other people to take care of her now. You don’t…”

Clementine swallowed, taken back to the day she met him. Recollecting the first words he said to her.

“You don’t need to look after her anymore.”

“ _You’ve been all by yourself through this?”_

“ _Yeah, I want my parents to come home now.”_

“ _I think that might be a little while, you know?”_

“ _Oh.”_

“ _Look, I don’t know what happened, but I’ll look after you until then.”_

Clementine snatched up the peg leg, fastening the belts to her knee one at a time. AJ would be calling soon. She grabbed her cane and pulled herself off the ground, taking one final look at the man who dedicated his life to her, his memory permanently sewn into the deepest parts of her soul.

Her hero.

“Rest well, Lee. I’m finally home.”

“Clementine, let’s go! I wanna eat pancakes!”

Clementine chuckled at AJ’s insistence, the invisible weight removed from her shoulders at last.

“Don’t worry, kiddo. I’m right behind you.”

\-----

“ _Take it from me, I’d be lost without you._  
_I try to run away, but you’re running up to me faster and I,_  
_I could barely breathe, I couldn’t even turn around._  
_I only hope we make it home, safe and sound.  
__Safe and Sound.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Song is obviously not mine and is by Hannah Jern-Miller and Jared Emerson-Johnson. 
> 
> :)


	4. Bonus: Louis - Day

**day** **noun  
**\ˈdā\  
1 : the time of light between one night and the next

\-----

Sometime around noon, Louis strolled into the graveyard, stringing a familiar bow over the nearest grave.

Attached to the drawstring of the bow was an envelope addressed to an old friend.

Marlon.

\-----

_Hey Marlon ~~o~~ ,_

_~~It’s-a me Louigi!~~ It’s me, Louis, your idiot of a best friend. Sorry it took so long to contact you. Would’ve done it sooner, but… things kinda got outta hand after you left. Those raiders you sold Minnie and Sophie to? Yeah, they came back and fucked us over. I mean, with Clementine’s help, it was only half a fuck and not a full fuck and we probably fucked them ten times over but still. It wasn’t fun._

_And speaking about raiders, you’re probably wondering why I’m writing a letter instead of, you know, doing what I do best? Well, remember how you always warned me that my big mouth would get me in trouble some day? Guess what? You were right! But hey, I’m still alive, ~~and~~ ~~kicking!~~ and that’s all that matters at the end of the day._

_Not gonna lie to you though, it fucking sucked at first. I couldn’t talk, couldn’t sing, couldn’t joke. Couldn’t do anything really, but cry. For hours and hours on end. Nonstop crying. ~~Thinking~~ ~~fuck,~~ ~~w~~ ~~ho the hell am I without my mouth~~ ~~?~~ ~~Nobody. Without it, I’m~~ ~~ **nobody**~~ ~~. Just a~~ ~~pathetic piece of shit~~ ~~. Good for~~ ~~absolutely~~ ~~nothing.~~ My voice was my spirit, you know, and without it _

_Relax, man. I’m not planning on joining you anytime soon. Not when Clementine put in all that effort to get me out of that bastard boat. I’m slowly finding other ways to talk now that don’t need a tongue. Writing mostly, and some sign language. The super simple kind like Thumbs up! Peace! Okay! Let’s rock n’ roll this world, baby!_

_Willy says that he’ll find the actual sign language book someday, but he’s also been busy searching for Clementine’s foot book, which I’d say is a much higher priority than my missing tongue. At least I can run when the walkers come. She can't._

_Anyways, I’m getting off-topic here. I actually wrote this up to let you know we got your bow back. We thought it was lost in the attack, but Rosie managed to find it the other day drifting down the river, snagged to a tree branch. The whole thing looking like a–_

_Huh… Now that I think about it, a lot of things have drifted down that river. Like **a lot** of things. Your bow. Clementine’s hat. Chairles. Some stray Disco Broccoli toys. (Seriously, what is up with those things? They’re everywhere!) Vi’s cleaver hasn’t come down yet, but I, uh, really don’t think we’re getting that back, magical river or not. Uh uh. Nope. Not happening._

_So, yeah, I strung your bow over your grave. We couldn’t bury it earlier, because we needed it to defend the school. Like you used to do when this all started. Killing walkers. Hunting prey. Shielding us kids from the dangers outside the walls._

_I still remember the first day you brought out that bow. It was one of those insanely sweltering hot days, the ones that make you feel like you’re roasting in an oven set to the overcooked setting. Everyone was scared and freaking out then, wondering who was going to take care of us after the adults fled. Because it couldn’t be us. No way. We were kids! Kids can’t do anything right. That’s what the adults kept telling us anyways._

_And then you stormed right in, bow in one hand, quiver in the other. Screaming at us to “Shut up!” Stomping into the middle of the courtyard and yelling, “That’s right! We’re kids! So what?! We’re not cowardly adults who abandon people that need them. We’re different! We’re the **future**!” And with that future, we were going to grab it by its head and change things, make things better. Transform Ericson into a real home and not just some shithole our parents threw us into. _

_That was… That was a long time ago._

_But your bow did it again. Saved us from the bad guys one last time. Most of us, I mean. Not everyone made it. Mitch. Tenn. Minnie._

~~_Hopefully, you two don’t cross paths in the afterlife. You didn’t exactly leave her in the best state, dude._ ~~

_The rest of us, though, we’re still around. Rebuilding the school, getting our lives back in order. ‘Moving forward’ as Clementine likes to say. And things aren’t all doom and gloom. We did get ourselves a horse. His name’s Two. Walnut Two. (Don’t ask me why. Clem and Vi named him, not me. I have no idea what happened to Walnut One.) And we got ourselves a working green house, too, so Omar can graduate at last from the classic rabbit stew to some more contemporary veggie recipes, their aromas oh so exquisite and tender. Their taste? Uh, no comment. You're gonna need to ask someone else for that._

_And hm, what else is new? Oh, love. Tons of sweet, cheesy love floating in the air. Aasim finally manned up and confessed to Ruby after the whole potentially-dying-or-getting-kidnapped fiasco. And she said yes :D. What do you know! Looks like our good friend has some romantic charm after all._

_Clem and Vi got together, too, while you were gone. And wow, they’re definitely on another level than when Vi was with Minnie. I’ve never seen Vi smile so much in my entire life, it’s terrifying. In a good way, of course. Happy Vi >>> Angry / Sad Vi any day of the week._

_Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Making fun of me for my lack of game. Dude, shut up. You weren’t any better than me when you were alive. Besides, I still got Omar to hang out with when all the lovebirds are dating. And AJ. And Willy. And Rosie. And Two. Walnut Two._

_Okay, yeah. Never mind. It’s kinda sad._

_Moving on… how are you doing up there? Is it as nice as Tenn used to say? A place where you can be yourself, do whatever you want? Whenever I think of that, I always imagine you chilling in this giant room. Posters of ancient rock stars on the wall. Music blasting through ten-foot tall speakers. A popped bag of sour cream and onion chips lying on the floor, half the chips already missing. And then stacks upon stacks upon stacks of worn-down comic books. Filled with stories of the heroes you were constantly raving about. Robin. Spider-Man. Captain America. Wolverine._

_Heroes you wanted to be._

_I wish you told me back then, Marlon. About all the burdens you had, the responsibility you felt. Growing up, we always swore to each other that we were brothers, comrades-in-arms, friends till the end of time. But when you needed someone the most… you couldn’t trust me. Because I was too busy clowning in my own shit to notice what was happening to you._

_Some best friend I am. More like worst friend, really. #1 for Worst of the Year._

_I’m not going to be that person anymore. The person who just fools around, thinking only about himself. I’m gonna watch over the others now, take care of them when they need it. Before it’s too late._

~~_I don’t want to lose anyone else like I lost you, man. Not again. Never again._ ~~

_Unfortunately, it looks like I’m running out of page to write, so I’m gonna need to wrap this up. Top it off with my grand finale, a spectacular Louis-version-like swan piano song. So outstanding it'll_ –

_What’d you say? Get to the point already? C’mon, dude. Let me have my time to shine. It’s not everyday that I get this smooth-rolling paper to write on. AJ steals it most of the time._

_Fine. I’ll keep this simple, straight to the point as you like it._

_We’re going to be okay. Me. Rosie. The school. Violet. Aasim. Ruby. And everyone else you care about._

_We’re going to be A-okay._

_So kick back, relax, and have fun over there, all right? Don’t worry about us. We can handle ourselves._

_Catch you later, Marlon._

_Your best friend till the end of time,  
_ _Loui ~~gi~~ s_

_P.S. Did you know Clementine calls me Be-Lou-Ga now? Are you kidding me? Out of all the majestic creatures in the sea, I’m the derpy-looking beluga?! Well, you know what the lot of them are? Sharks. One family-sized pack of deadly walker-killer sharks. Chop, chop._

_P.P.S. Rosie still misses you. With you gone, the rest of us do our best to take care of her, but I’m pretty sure she goes to whine at your grave every once in a while. She loved you the most, you know, so send a sign when you can, okay?_

_P.P.P.S. Is there anything else that you want with you there? Your nameplate? Your trophies? Your… chair?  We were too busy digging out graves for you and Brody last time to gather your things, but if you really want it, I think Willy, Aasim, and I can come up with a plan to get the chair out of the admin building. Use ropes or planks or something, I gue_ –

_P.P.P.P.S. Uh oh. UltraViolet Mama Shark’s calling for me. Looks like I really got to go. No more ~~talking~~ writing postscripts. I’ll have to update you some other time. _

_Toodles!_

_\-----_

“ _Aasim loves giving me crap about having a good time, always telling me I’m not thinking long term. ‘We need to guarantee our future’, and all that horseshit. But I tell him right back, there’s only one guarantee: this moment. That’s the only thing you got, only thing any of us got.”_

“ _Might as well enjoy it.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, Ninja Louis!
> 
> Thought that if I already attempted the other three, I might as well attempt the final boss and complete the set of major characters and their shadows (And he is definitely the final boss, ouch. I'm sorry.).
> 
> Thanks for reading! And for the comments and other support, too. Confidence levels were not exactly the highest going into this, so they helped push me through to the finish line. So, thanks again!
> 
> Toodles!


End file.
